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Meghna Bridges

Temporary repair makes little impact

M Abul Kalam Azad
The temporary expansion joints fixed to the Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges earlier this month have made little impact to keep the bridges fit for traffic as the nuts and bolts at the joints are falling off frequently.
Steel plates used as expansion joints have also dislocated at some places.
Visiting the bridges on Sunday, this correspondent saw army personnel and workers of Infertech Bangladesh busy in readjusting the plates,
SEE PAGE 6 COL 5 FROM PAGE 20 nuts and bolts.
Appointed by the army, Malaysian Hercules Engineering had carried out the temporary repair from September 1 to September 7.
They fixed 35-millimetre-thick steel plates with nuts and bolts. A layer of bitumen was laid to fill the gap between the steel plates and the bridge's deck.
Besides, hinge bearings were also fixed underneath the bridge as part of the temporaryrepair.
To carry out the repair, traffic was kept suspended on the bridges for six hours from midnight every day.
The repair helped reduce vibration on the bridges, but nuts and bolts started falling off from the expansion joints a couple of hours after traffic was allowed over the bridges.
This has compelled the authorities to readjust the nuts and bolts on a regular basis. The job was assigned to Infertech Bangladesh.
“We monitor the expansion joints round the clock and readjust the nuts and bolts whenever required," said Sorwar, an engineer of Infertech Bangladesh. He
blamed overloading and excessive speed of vehicles for the problem.
Experts of Buet, however, attributed the problem to improper design of steel plates. “The plates are not effective as those are very thick,” said Prof Saiful Amin, one of the members of the three-member consultancy team of the civil engineering department of Bangladesh University of Engineering andTechnology (Buet).
According to fundamental rules, the steel plates should be installed at either 1/2 millimetre below or parallel to the deck of the bridge. But in the Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges, the plates have been installed above the
deck. As a result, vehicles crossing the bridge hit the plates, he added.
“We had suggested that they should use much thinner steel plates, but we don't know why the design was not used. We were not aware of the fact that they were using thick plates," mentioned the Buet expert.
Prof M Azadur Rahman, consultant of the army, ruled out the claim by the Buet experts. “There is nothing wrong with our method as we used it only as a temporary solution. It was anticipated that the nuts and bolts will be dislodged.”
“It was not technically possible to fix the expansion joints properly in six hours
time.... Our target was to reduce vibration on the bridge and we have achieved that.”
Asked about the quality of the repair work, acting communications secretary MAN Siddique said, “I am not denying the fact, but it was only a temporary repair and both the bridges are now safe and fit for traffic.”
Earlier, the government took aTk 150 crore project to repair Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges as the infrastructures became risky for traffic due to severe damage to the expansion joints and hinge bearings.
Permanent repairs of the bridges are due by the end of this year.